As the time passed by, the youths that had already been present scattered in several directions. Many left the coliseum, as they knew that as long as John stayed within, no one else would be able to claim the central platform in the arena and gain Jade Marks. The youths that left the coliseum spread word far and wide about what had transpired, although their stories were received as pure fabrication and embellishment by those who heard it.
The other youths stayed inside the coliseum, finding seats in the stands surrounding the arena. Although none of them had any ideas of joining the battles in the arena, they all stayed to see if anyone else was crazy enough to enter. Not only that, but John could leave at any time, giving them an opportunity to become the next king of the arena.
Two hours quickly passed by, all while more and more youths stumbled upon the ancient town and ventured into it. Word of John’s feats quickly spread amongst the newcomers, most of whom dismissed the tales as pure fiction.
The stronger arrivals quickly made their way to the coliseum perched above the town, making their arrival known to all. As they arrived in the coliseum, the newcomers couldn’t help but scoff at the arrogance they were witnessing. In the very center of the arena lounged a singular youth, asleep on a comfortable looking chair.
“Are you kidding me? This is who you fear?” one of the newcomers, a youth in the very peak of the Early Heaven Tribulation realm asked as he laid his eyes on John. He did not have a top on, and instead had his chest and arms bared for all to see. Powerful muscles bulged all across his upper body, while a set of wild red hair flowed from his head, making him look quite fierce. “All of you are truly pathetic weaklings,” the youth continued. “As soon as the next round starts, I’ll claim the arena for myself.”
He had heard the stories of John’s feats, but like all the others dismissed them as fabrication, as his feats were completely unbelievable. Not only that, but the youth wanted to make a statement early on in these lands, marking himself as one of the strongest. While he was still in the Early Heaven Tribulation Realm, he was just a hair away from breaking through. Once he did that, he would establish himself as a top contender within these lands, or so he thought.
The other youths who had seen John’s fight before glanced at each other with strange looks on their faces. They wanted to advise the newcomer against such actions, but decided against it. The newcomer belonged to none of the other sects or clans gathered, and so his fate was none of their concern. Not only that, but his words were clearly looking down on everyone, and so all those gathered actually looked forward to seeing him taken down a peg..
“Hahaha,” a fit of melodic laughter sounded out, as if someone had just heard the funniest joke. All eyes turned towards the sound of the laughter, at which point they spotted a familiar beautiful blonde haired girl laughing with her hand over her mouth. She was clearly trying to stifle her fit of laughter, but was unable to do so in time.
The other youths in the arena instantly recognized the girl, while the wild looking youth narrowed his eyes as he frowned at Iris.
“What are you laughing at?” the youth bellowed out.
“Nothing…nothing,” Iris replied while waving her hand dismissively. She didn’t want to agitate this youth and cause him to take action, as her doing such a thing last time had caused John to get into a fight outside the arena with Vildren. However, the words from the youth truly had been too funny for her to contain her laughter, although she managed to stifle it in the end.
The youth’s gaze stayed locked onto Iris for a moment, before a loud sound boomed out, turning his attention away from her.
Gong!
The gong of a bell sounded out over the coliseum, indicating the end of the round and the start of the next one. The barrier formation instantly faded away, once again allowing the first one hundred participants to enter the arena before it closed once more.
“You see,” the newcomer bellowed out loudly for all to hear. “The round starts right as I arrive, almost as if it was fated by the heavens. Now watch as I show you pathetic trash what true strength is!”
Bang!
The youth landed on the arena, his heavy body shaking it as he landed on its surface. His eyes locked onto John who was still casually lounging about in his chair, although he didn’t make a move yet. The round would only truly start once the gong sounded again, something that he had learned from the others when arriving.
Hushed discussions filled the arena as the spectators began to discuss the events to come. However, most of them kept their voices down so as to not attract the attention of the fiery youth.
“How long do you think he’ll last?” a youth in the stands asked his nearby friends.
“Who knows? Maybe that freak of nature expended all his energy in his fight with Vildren, and is running on fumes. It’s only been two hours, which isn’t enough time to replenish his Qi reserves,” another replied.
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
John’s eyes slowly opened as he felt the strange sensation on his chest once again. He calmly inspected his brand, and noticed the score had risen.
‘Forty seven huh?’ John mused. ‘That means I received fifteen points. I thought it would be more based on the talent testing arch, but maybe this is the Jade Dragon Empires way of telling their youths that talent is secondary, while strength and actions are what’s most important. Afterall, a heavenly genius can end up worthless if he doesn’t work hard enough.’
Time passed by quickly, and the bell sounded out loudly once again. No one else had entered the arena during this time, leaving only John and the wild looking newcomer in the arena together.
“Hahaha, times up for you,” the red headed youth bellowed out loudly with absolute confidence. “I’m a merciful man, so I’ll give you this one chance to leave the arena peacefully. Otherwise don’t blame me for being heavy handed.”
“Hmm?” a groggy sound drifted over the arena as John lazily raised his head. His weary looking eyes locked onto the wild looking youth, before he lowered his head back onto the comfortable headrest of the chair once again.
“Leave me alone,” John muttered while waving his one hand dismissively, as if rising from his slumber was not worth the effort.
The wild looking youth’s gaze narrowed at John’s actions, while his aura suddenly exploded out powerfully.
“You dare look down on me like this?” the youth barked out loudly, clearly agitated that John didn’t even place him in his eyes. “I’ll make you regret your actions!”
The youth suddenly jumped up into the air and quickly appeared directly above John. His fist began to glow brightly, while it also radiated an incredible might. Clearly the youth was a body cultivator, as he was attacking with his bare fists.
“Almighty Smash!” the youth yelled loudly as his fist punched down towards John.
John’s eyes opened once again as he stared directly up towards the youth above him. A look of agitation appeared on his face as he quickly raised his hand and pointed at the youths chest.
“Tch, I was having a good dream,” John muttered out in agitation as lightning flickered on his finger.
“Too late!” the youth yelled out with confidence. Any attack John mustered in such a fashion was sure to be a hasty one, and a weak one as well. The youth was confident in the strength of his body protecting him from harm, and so decided to continue his assault on John.
Lightning Disintegration!
Bang!
The lightning disintegration slammed against the youths chest before he could react to its incredible power. A powerful explosion radiated outwards, while the youth found himself launched across the arena, unable to fight against the lightning beam. A loud cry of pain sounded out as the youth launched upwards for quite some time, before it came plummeting back towards the earth. He slammed viciously into the arena below, not stopping his fall at all.
His body remained motionless, while smoke rose from the charred flesh on his body. Hundreds of divine senses quickly scanned out to see if the youth was dead, but their scans revealed that he was merely unconscious.
“Take him away from here,” John commanded as his Qi enveloped the youth and flung him out of the arena and into the stands. “I can’t sleep with his stench filling up the arena.”